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Castlevania (Lords of Shadow)
The Bernhard Castle (known as Vampire Castle'Skeleton Warrior: "The human inhabitants of the Vampire Castle suffered a cruel fate once the Dark Lord set up her lair inside."Wygol Village Intro: "This village is one of the last vestiges of human civilization left in this place of death and cold. It lies not far from the Vampire's Castle, our next objective." or the '''Castle'Animated Armor: "They serve the Vampire Dark Lord by patrolling and protecting the Castle's halls and corridors." in the Lords of Shadow, and '''Dracula's Castle in Mirror of Fate ''and Lords of Shadow 2'') was the home of Vampire Dark Lord Carmilla and her vampiric horde. It was previously owned by Friedrich von Frankenstein, Walter Bernhard and the Bernhard family. When Carmilla took over, she drove the most of the Bernhard family out, but kept Frankenstein in order to torture him, and to continue making creations for her. After defeating Carmilla and The Forgotten One, Gabriel Belmont, now known as "Dracul" or "Dracula", took residence in the castle. Background It is said that castle was haunted long before the vampires came to dwell among its walls. The Bernhard clan made a pact with a hellspawn, which resulted in the building itself becoming possessed by the demon. It may just be a myth to harm the reputation of the family, but the fact that the castle could be a living entity may explain how, after centuries, no one had been able to create a complete map of there castle, even after expending considerable resources on the task. The castle's Maze Gardens were once the most beautiful in all of Europe. Many pilgrims would visit the Castle grounds from lands far away to witness their timeless beauty. Although the castle's original owners are unknown, it was ruled by the Bernhard family, who were evidenced to be a group of evil sorcerers through their actions. Perhaps at the same time or later, Friedrich von Frankenstein also owned the castle. At an unknown point in time, the Bernhard family had summoned the Forgotten One, a powerful demon. However, the Forgotten One was too powerful to control, and broke free. The events of this took place at an unknown time, although it could have occurred as a result of the Bernhard family attempting to fend off the Brotherhood of Light. The Brotherhood eventually managed to combine their powers to seal the Forgotten One into another dimension, and built a new area around the castle in order to house him in the event that he managed to escape. At a point in the past, the Brotherhood of Light's founders were tricked into ascending to heaven, also splitting their light sides, which ascended to heaven, from their dark sides, which remained on Earth. The Lords of Shadow, as they were called, went their separate ways, although Carmilla remained in order to watch over in the event that the Forgotten One was to escape, fearing what would happen if he did. After Gabriel returned after being summoned by Laura to confront the Forgotten One, whose bonds had now been broken, the two explored the underground layers of the castle, finally reaching the Founders' Quarters. After drinking all Laura's blood in order to progress, as only dark beings could enter, Gabriel continues into the underworld to confront the Forgotten One. Gabriel defeated the Forgotten One, and returned to the castle, taking residence in it as Dark Lord. Here, most of the creatures bowed down to him. The structure of the castle changed dramatically by the Hunchback dwarves who began to take residence there, who began to repair and expand on the castle. Gabriel, now known as Dracul and Dracula, used the castle as his base of operations for his planned vengeance on the Brotherhood and remaking of the world. After Alucard and Simon defeated Dracula, the castle collapsed. Though it would later resurrect again along with Dracula. It would survive into modern times with its immortal master, surrounded by Wygol City build around the expansive castle. Castle Structure Like the original Dracula's Castle, the castle was said to be able to change form after a pact with a demon which actually possessed the castle. Although this may be untrue, the castle remains very vast and not all of its depths are known. Following the rise of Gabriel Belmont as Dracula, the structure of the castle was changed dramatically in some portions of the castle by the Hunchback dwarves who began to take residence there, who began to repair and expand on the castle. Following the defeat of Dracula by Simon and Alucard, the castle completely crumbled. In Modern times, the castle remains intact. Areas of the castle that have been modernized are considered part of Wygol City. Below is a list of known castle areas, in order of progression. *'Lords of Shadow:' **'Gabriel Version' **Castle Sewers **Maze Gardens **Castle Hall **Refectory **Balcony **Electric Laboratory **Chromatic Observatory **Outer Wall **The Clockwork Tower **The Throne Room **Abandoned Wing (Resurrection Dlc) **Founders' Quarters (Resurrection Dlc) *'Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate:' **'Trevor Version' **Castle Entrance **Unholy Church **Crypt **Cemetery **Entrance Bridge **Crypt's Labyrinth **'Simon Version' **Cursed Village ***Not actually part of the castle, but a small village built near the castle, it lies not far from the Castle's Outer Wall. Mostly wooden structures, and a windmill. **Castle's Outer Wall ***The road leads up to a bridge, and a drawbridge, that leads to the Castle Entrance (a graveyard in Trevor's quest). If the drawbridge is closed off, the access into the castle through an underground route created by pilgrims centuries before to worship the spirit of a woman who it was claimed had the power of healing. These tunnels they travelled through to seek health and good fortune lead into and are part of the Forgotten Caves where the healer's shrine is located. **Forgotten Caves ***This is the location of the shrine of the healer, where Simon finds the Spirit of Belnades, that both apparently represents the centuries-dead healer, but also the spirit of his dead mother Sypha, it lies on the edge of the Deadly Waterfalls. This section and the part of the tunnel in the previous section must date back to before or during the time of the Bernard family. **Deadly Waterfalls ***A place of underground streams and waterfalls. Thousands of corpses of men, women and children that were thrown into the castle moat during the First War infected the underground streams. The rivers that flow under the castle became a death trap, capable of dissolving flesh, bone and the very soul within. This area opens up into an area just below the bridge, into a section of rooms within the inner wall. In later times, the floor collapsed near the front gate of the Castle Hall (where trevor finally defeated the Lady of the Crypt), allowing access into the hall, from the rooms below. **Castle Hall ***The Main Hall of the Castle (previously seen in Lords of Shadow). It is lined with glass windows, and black statues. There are a few side doors, one leading outside, where the Night Watchmen comes from. At this point in history, the gate leading into the game room is closed off. Behind this door lies the great animated chessboard, designed by vampires to kill time during their long nights. It was said that a human is invited to play from time to time. If he wins, he is received into the Vampire Clan. If he loses, he is included in the dinner menu. An elevator leads down to the Guards room. Near the front gate, there is the skeletal remains of the Lady of the Crypt. **Guards Room **Cells **Inner Cells **Vertical Prison **Kitchen **Theatre **Terrace **Ballroom **Courtyard **Library **Toy Maker's Funfair **Main Tower Outside **Throne Room *'Lords of Shadow 2:' Gallery CastleVista.jpg CastleShot13.png VampireScreenshot.png CastleShot1.png CastleShot2.png CastleShot3.png CastleShot4.png CastleShot5.png CastleShot6.png CastleShot7.png CastleShot8.png CastleShot9.png CastleShot10.png CastleShot11.png CastleShot12.png Notes *It is suggested that Carmilla lived in the castle when she was human. She despised Dr. Frankenstein, and wanted to bring him to justice. This suggests that she may have been a member of the Bernhard family or had a connection to them somehow. The Skeleton Warriors were once her closest retainers at the castle when she was human. In death they became her guards. *Their are some similarities with some of the architecture in the Bernhard Castle in Lords of Shadow and Walter's castle in Lament of Innocence. Primarily the hallways in the castle are lined with giant black armor and statues. These resemble the black armor statues on the top floor of Walter's Castle leading up to his throne room. These dark armor statues also appear in the top floor of the castle in Aria of Sorrow (in some cases blocking passages with their swords). The Entrance hallway with the black armor statues appears in Mirror of Fate as well, with the game room with giant chessboard as seen in Reverie DLC. *Some of the statues in the castle, particularly some seen inside the Mirror of Fate room, an armored man with red hair, resemble Walter Bernhard from Lament of Innocence. According to some of the back story gleaned from Mirror of Fate, Walter Bernhard was a leading member of the Bernhard family, and he was the one behind cursing the Toy Maker. *It's unclear of who exactly had control over the castle before Carmilla took over, since various notes say the Bernhards and Frankenstein ruled the castle, but never mentioned who had governing rule. It's suggested that both families could have shared the castle for various reasons, or could have been cousins. The legend that the Bernhards made a pact with demon suggest they were the first ruler's of the castle though, meaning Frankenstein could have had control over just a small section of the castle. Another idea is that he took control after the Bernhards left, and lost control shortly before Carmilla claimed the castle as her own. *The legend that the castle is a demon, in which the layout is near impossible to map out, is similar to what Alucard mention's about Dracula's Castle in Symphony of the Night. *An interesting note about the castle, is that it shares similar levels to Dracula's Castle. Because of this, it could be argued that Vampire Castle is a nod to Castlevania itself, since most games of the series take place in nothing but a castle, with a Belmont as the protagonist, and a Vampire as a the main boss/ruler of the castle. *The three paths seen through Dracula's Castle in Mirror of Fate have sections that overlap. Though the characters enter the castle from different positions in each. Doors that one character can access in their path, are not accessible in other paths, and sometimes sections of the castle are modified as each character goes through them (Reaver fight destroys an elevator that Simon could use on his path through the game for example, the carcass of the Lady of the Crypt can be seen near the main gate of the castle in Simon's quest, but is killed by Trevor in his quest). Simon begins outside the castle in the Cursed Village, Alucard begins from the Mirror of Fate, and Trevor begins from the castle's Graveyard. Some of the areas seen by the various characters are nods back to areas seen in the Lord's of Shadows (such as the entry Hallway leading Chess board in the 'game room' as seen in the Reverie DlC), but many areas are also new as well. The back story (read via Brotherhood Scrolls) mentions some of the areas were areas that existed when the Bernard family ruled the castle, and others were built or expanded upon by the Hunchback dwarves at the behest of Dracula. *In Lords of Shadow 2, the castle has grown stronger in its power since the rise of Dracula. The castle eventually challenges Dracula's rule using its own blood influnces to turn Dracula's minions against him. *The castle would stay mostly intact into over a thousand years, Wygol Village would expand into a modern city built around the castle, incorporating much of it's Gothic influences and architecture. References Category:Lords of Shadow Category:Castles Category:Mirror of Fate Category:Lords of Shadow 2